TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, heading a delegation, arrived in Moscow on Monday to discuss joint war on narcotics as well as international and regional security cooperation with senior Russian officials.
Upon arrival at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Rahmani Fazli was warmly welcomed by a number of Iranian and Russian officials.

The visit is taking place at the official invitation of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Chief Viktor Ivanov. During his two-day stay, the Iranian minister is due to discuss international war on drugs in meetings with Russian officials.

Rahmani Fazli is slated to hold separate meetings with Russian Minister of Extraordinary Situations Vladimir Puchkov and Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kolokoltsev on enhancement of Tehran-Moscow regional and international security cooperation.

The two sides will sign a joint statement and a joint plan of action which are to be put into effect during 2015-2018.

Over the last several years, Iran and Russia have had vast cooperation in different fields, specially in political and economic spheres.

The two states also enjoy special positions on the international scene and have long had constant and regular consultations on key regional and global issues.

According to World Drug Report 2013 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Iran accounted for the highest rate of opium seizures (80 percent) as well as heroin seizures (30 percent) in the world last year.

According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country's borders, specially in the East.

Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.

Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.

By Fars News Agency

 

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